


Rivers and Mountains

by Serendipity_246



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Endgame Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Multi, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-03-16 10:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13634016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serendipity_246/pseuds/Serendipity_246
Summary: Two gangs of rebellious high school students, one from Jeolla-do and one from Gyeongsang-do, hate each other. But in the face of a common enemy, they learn to overcome their differences and realize that they’re all Korean.





	1. What is he saying?

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave constructive criticism! I'm new at this, so I'll take what I can get. Thank you for reading!
> 
> some quick things to know:  
> -inspired by the BTS song Paldogangsan, aka Satoori Rap  
> -takes place in a Korean high school  
> -endgame Sope, other ships too

“Now, who can tell me what are the four types of macromolecules?” Ms. Yoon asked the class.

Suga sighed and leaned back in his seat. He was in his biology class, right before lunch. It was Friday, and Suga was exhausted from the week. He really didn’t want to be here. He sat in the back of the room with his friends, Jimin and Taehyung They felt the same way as he did about school. The only upside to this class was he got to hang out with the two of them.

Ms. Yoon watched her class waiting for a response. To the surprise of all of them, it was J-Hope who raised his hand to answer. Suga raised an eyebrow. Now this was new. J-Hope, whose birth name was Hoseok except only teachers called him that, was considered one of the bad kids. He didn’t care much about school. He and Suga were similar in that regard.

Except Suga refused to acknowledge even the smallest of similarities between them. Suga was a proud Daegu boy, from Gyeongsang province. J-Hope came from Gwangju, in the heart of the Jeolla province. The two provinces were infamous for their long held rivalry.

“There’s nucleic acids, fats, uh, proteins, and carbs”, J-Hope said, smirking proudly.

“What’s he saying? I can’t understand him”, Taehyung said loudly from the back.

Suga grinned. Taehyung was always an interesting character, and what better way to liven up a dull class than to poke fun at one of the hated Jeolla clan.

J-Hope, sitting in the middle of the class two rows in front of Suga and his friends, turned in his seat. His self satisfied smirk was gone, replaced by a clenched jaw and furious eyes. “I said”, J-Hope said angrily, “the four types of macromolecules are-”

“I still can’t understand him”, Taehyung interrupted. He was being obnoxious on purpose, and everyone knew it.

“His accent is too strong!” Jimin declared. Suga let out a laugh as Jimin gave Taehyung a high five.

“Maybe if he lightened up on the Satoori, we might be able to make out what he’s trying to say”, Suga chimed in. Taehyung and Jimin snickered.

“That is enough!” Ms. Yoon said, slamming her hand down on her podium. “If any of you three speak without permission again, all of you will stay in for lunch. I’m sorry, Hoseok. Please continue”.

“Hell nah, I’m out of here”. J-Hope had had enough. Grabbing his bag, he got up and began heading for the door. He paused to make eye contact with Suga and his friends, and gave them the finger. Then he stormed out. Taehyung and Jimin doubled over in silent laughter.

There was a moment of silence. Ms. Yoon glared at Taehyung. “That was cruel. Hoseok can’t help how he speaks. It’s not right to tease someone for something they can’t help. Besides, we all know you understood him fine”.

Taehyung rolled his eyes, then turned to whisper to Jimin again. As for Suga, personally he didn’t give two shits. Suga and Taehyung both had Daegu accents, and Jimin spoke with the Busan dialect. All three of them had been teased for it before. But it was simply how things were in Korea. If you spoke with Satoori and went to school in Seoul, you better get used to the teasing quick. Suga had, and so should J-Hope. As Ms. Yoon continued with the lecture, Suga slumped back into his seat and returned to not paying attention.

Lunch couldn’t come fast enough. When the bell rang, Suga was out of his seat like a cannon shot, Taehyung and Jimin close behind. The three made their way to their usual lunch table, at the far end of the cafeteria.

“‘Sup fuckers”, Suga said to the rest of their group, who had come from other classes.

“Who you calling a fucker, Suga hyung?” Jungkook, the second youngest of the group, gave him the finger and Irene, his girlfriend, stuck out her tongue at Suga. She sat in Jungkook’s lap, the two sitting across from Suga, Taehyung, and Jimin. Yeri, who was sitting between the two and Suga, punched his arm playfully in greeting.

“How’s the prank war?” he asked Yeri. The others waited to hear her response. Yeri was known for having a rivalry with one of the Jeolla girls named Joy. The two pulled practical jokes on each other, and it was so intense it had been dubbed a “prank war” by Jimin, and the name had stuck.

“Well, I’m not saying I stole her clothes while she was showering in the locker room”. Irene gasped and Jungkook began to laugh. “But also that’s exactly what I’m saying”.

“Goddamn, our maknae is the literal devil”, Jungkook said, and Yeri flashed a smile at him.

“Kim Yerim strikes again”, Suga chuckled.

“You know it. She was pissed. It was so funny. Those Jeolla kids are always so fucking angry, I swear to God”.

“Ooh, that reminds me. Suga hyung, tell them what happened in Biology today”, Taehyung said, grinning mischievously.

“It was hilarious”, Jimin added. “What did you three manage to get up to today?” Irene asked.

“We pissed one of the Jeolla kids off so much he stormed out of class”, Suga said.

“Hyung, what did you do?” Jungkook laughed.

“Taehyung was great. He kept going ‘what is he saying?’, ‘cause, ya know, those bastards have got that really thick accent”. Suga grinned at the memory.

“Nice one!” Yeri high fived Taehyung across the table.

“That’s kinda mean”, Irene said, but she was smiling too.

“Uh, was it that J-Hope guy?” Jungkook asked.

“Yeah. Why?”

“He’s coming straight toward us”.

“Watch out!” Irene yelled. Suga turned right as J-Hope grabbed Taehyung by the front of his shirt and yanked him out of his seat.

“Aish! Watch it!” Taehyung yelped. J-Hope socked him in the stomach and he crumpled to the ground in pain. Suga and the rest of his gang stood up from the table to confront J-Hope and his two friends, all good humor gone. If the Jeolla kids wanted a fight, you bet your ass Suga and his friends would give it to them. “Stop it!” yelled Taehyung, wincing.

“Oh I’m sorry, I can’t understand you! Must be my Jeolla accent, huh?” J-Hope snarled. His two friends, a girl with long brown hair named Seulgi and a boy with dyed blonde hair called Namjoon, yanked Taehyung roughly from the ground and held him as J-Hope continued to beat up Taehyung.

“Leave him alone!” Irene grabbed Seulgi by the hair and pulled her away from Taehyung, while Jungkook attacked Namjoon. Suga pushed J-Hope away and Jimin and Yeri went to help the injured Taehyung. J-Hope whirled on Suga and the two stood face to face.

“Knock it off”, Suga growled. J-Hope spat right in his face. Oh. Oh okay. He had tried to defuse the situation, but if this was how J-Hope wanted to play it. Suga wiped the spit from his face, and then punched J-Hope so hard he was sent flying. By this point, a crowd had gathered around the sparring Suga and J-Hope. J-Hope’s friends stood on one side, Suga’s friends on the other, and a bunch of random students were spread out in a circle around the two. Several had their phones out, filming the fight.

“Kick his ass, Suga!” Taehyung roared, supported by Jimin and Yeri and still bleeding.

“Go J-Hope!” Seulgi screamed. Irene snarled and almost attacked her again but Jungkook held her back. As each group of friends cheered them on, Suga and J-Hope fought furiously. Both were strong, and what’s more, both of them were pissed. This made for an intense battle.

“Min Yoongi! Jung Hoseok! That is enough!” Principal Kim pushed through the crowd of assembled students. She and two other teachers pulled Suga and J-Hope apart. “Anyone who is still here after I’m done counting to five will be suspended. One!” shouted Principal Kim and the students scattered, leaving just Suga and J-Hope to face the school administrators.

***

“I’m so disappointed in you both!” To say Principal Kim was angry would be an understatement. She was furious. Suga and J-Hope sat next to each other in Principal Kim’s office. Both of them refused to acknowledge each other. “You’re lucky I’m not expelling you on the spot. This feud of yours has gotten absolutely ridiculous!”

As if this was a feud between just Suga and J-Hope. This was a rivalry that went far deeper than two high school boys, Suga thought. This was a generations-old conflict between two regions of Korea. Not that she could understand. She was just some rich bitch from Seoul.

“Both of you will be serving detention for two hours after school today. Together”, Principal Kim said, emphasizing the last word.

“What?!” Suga finally lost his cool. He had work! How would he explain this to his boss? He could lose his job. Besides, the thought of spending two hours in a room with J-Hope made him want to tear his hair out. “This is bullshit!”

“Watch your language, Yoongi”, she snapped. Suga rolled his eyes at her use of his birth name.

“You want to stick us in a room together after we just got busted for fighting?” asked J-Hope incredulously.

“Should you choose to fight again, the consequences will be severe”, she said coolly. “I’m sure common sense will deter you. You will be in Mr. Kwon’s room. Report there right after school. Now, go to your next classes. Dismissed”.

***

The two were in Mr. Kwon’s class after school, scraping gum off of the desks. Mr. Kwon sat at his desk in the front of the room, reading the newspaper.

“This is so fucking stupid”, Suga muttered as he scraped at the dried gum underneath the desk. “Why am I even here? I didn’t do anything”.

“Don’t act like you’re innocent”, J-Hope snapped from the desk next to him. “Your stupid orange haired friend started it with the shit talk”.

“We talked shit. You and your friends attacked us. Not the same thing. And don’t diss Taehyung like that”.

“We were provoked and you know it. I mean, mocking our accents? You of all people should know that’s a shit thing to do, Mr. Daegu”.

“That’s different”.

“Why?”

“Our accent doesn’t sound like-”, Suga paused.

“Like what?”

“You know”, he gestured vaguely.

“No, I fucking don’t!”

“Boys, could you kindly pipe down and focus on your job?” drawled Mr. Kwon from his desk, still looking at his newspaper. Suga and J-Hope both rolled their eyes and continued to scrub.

An hour later, all the desks were clean. J-Hope sat down, and Suga made a point to take a seat as far away from him as possible. J-Hope rolled his eyes. Suga stuck his tongue out at him, and J-Hope scoffed.

“Can we go now?” Suga asked Mr. Kwon.

“It’s only been one hour. Principal Kim said two”. Mr. Kwon had switched from the newspaper to a manhwa now, still reading and not bothering to look up at Suga as he responded.

“It’s not like you still need us”, Suga argued.

“Sorry, Yoongi. Rules are rules. You have to stay the full two hours”. Mr. Kwon shrugged. Suga exhaled angrily and slouched in his seat, fuming.

“This is so boring”, J-Hope said, putting his head down.

“Tell me about it”, Suga muttered. J-Hope looked at him in surprise and Suga realized that he had just agreed with him. What the heck?

J-Hope cleared his throat loudly and Suga glanced at him. “Nice weather we’re having”.

“Fuck off”.

“You fuck off! I’m just trying to be polite”.

“It would have been nice if you’d thought of that at lunch”, Suga said scathingly.

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry”. J-Hope said as he looked down at his desk.

Suga was stunned speechless. This Jeolla kid was...apologizing to him? What the hell was even happening?! “I wasn’t even mad at you, anyway”, J-Hope continued, “It was your friend who I wanted to fight. You just got in the way”. Suga was silent, confused by why J-Hope was being so...civil with him. If the roles had been reversed, Suga would never have been so forgiving.

Then again, maybe this meant that Suga should apologize too. “You know”, Suga finally said. J-Hope looked up at him again. “Taehyung is...he’s the kind of guy who likes to talk shit. Sometimes it’s annoying. So maybe...he shouldn’t have said what he did”.

“You’re pretty bad at apologies, ya know”.

“Yah! I’m trying to be nice, and this is the thanks I get? Well, screw you! Maybe I’ll write a diss track instead”.

“What do you mean, diss track?” J-Hope leaned forward, now watching Suga with interest.

“A rap. Dissing someone”.

“Dude, I’m a rapper. I know what it means”. J-Hope laughed. The melodic sound caught Suga by surprise. “I just didn’t know you were a rapper too”.

“The more you know”. Suga shrugged, hiding his surprise at the revelation that J-Hope was a fellow rapper.

“Gotta say, a rapper from Daegu? Sounds far fetched to me”.

“As if Gwangju gave birth to hip hop”.

“How dare you”. Suga raised an eyebrow but J-Hope gave a small smile to show he was being playful. Slowly, Suga smiled back.


	2. Hot Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunchtime at the Jeolla table

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In regards to chapter 1: Yes, I know that Suga and his friends are little shits and I'm sorry. They learn lessons in the end though, I promise.

“Yo, did you hear about the new vice principal?” Joy asked. It was the Monday after J-Hope’s fight with Suga and the subsequent detention, and J-Hope sat with his friends in the cafeteria for lunch. J-Hope sat at their table in between Joy and his best friend Seulgi. On Joy’s other side sat Namjoon, and Namjoon was saving a space for Jin next to him.

“No, what’re they like?” asked J-Hope.

“Word is he’s really strict. Like, think the dad from Footloose strict. He’s really against dancing and rap music and stuff. Says it ‘corrupts’ young people”. Joy did air quotes with her fingers.

“Holy shit”. J-Hope shook his head. Too many adults looked down on art forms like his. They thought it was poisonous, but in reality it was the healing force in many kids’ lives. They just feared what they didn’t understand. Closed minded idiots.

“Yeah, he already busted two kids for dancing in the hallway”.

“That’s messed up”, Seulgi, who was a dancer herself, sighed and shook her head.

“It is”, Joy agreed. “But I would be more pissed if they weren’t in that Gyeongsang-do group”.

Seulgi’s demeanor immediately hardened. “Suddenly I don’t give a shit”.

J-Hope glanced at the Gyeongsang-do table, across the room. He wondered which two kids were the ones who got in trouble. He wondered what Suga thought. Then he wondered why the fuck he was thinking about that Daegu boy.

“I’m still so pissed at them”, Seulgi said, furiously wringing her hands. She glared at the Gyeongsang-do kids. “I actually might kill them. They fucking made fun of J-Hope’s accent! That’s a low blow”. J-Hope nodded in agreement. When he thought of that stupid orange haired kid, Taehyung he thought Suga said his name was, he still felt his blood boil. The insult wasn’t new, but it still stung each time.

“I swear, I hate them so much”, spat Joy. “Do you know what that bitch Yeri did to me on Friday? She fucking stole my clothes while I was showering after gym class!”

“That’s kinda pervy”, J-Hope said.

“I know, right?! She’s so...weird”.

“She’s a strange one”, Namjoon spoke up and Joy nodded vehemently.

“They’ve always act like they’re better than us”, Jin joined in the conversation as he arrived to the table. He took a seat next to Namjoon and kissed him on the cheek. “But we can’t let it get to us”.

“Easy for you to say! You’re from Gyeonggi-do”, Joy said.

“Yah! You’re one to talk”, Seulgi, who was also from the Gyeonggi province, pouted. “You’re from Jeju”.

“Yeah, that was uncalled for”, Namjoon said, putting an arm around his boyfriend.

Joy sighed. “Sorry, Jin oppa. I shouldn’t have said that. You’re one of us”.

“No offense taken. But you do realize that J-Hope is the only one actually from Jeolla-do, right? The rest of us are just guilty by association”, Jin pointed out.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re from as long as you’re not from Gyeongsang-do”, J-Hope declared and they all laughed. “And Jin hyung’s right. They ain’t worth shit”. J-Hope continued. “We know who’s really better. Us! We’re hot stuff”.

“Hell yeah!” they cheered.

There was a few moments of silence as the group ate. Then Namjoon asked a question J-Hope was hoping to avoid. “How was detention after school, J-Hope?”

“I hope that Suga guy didn’t give you too much trouble”, Seulgi said.

“He thinks he’s so cool”, Joy chimed in, “but he’s actually a loser”. Jin and Seulgi nodded in agreement. Namjoon didn’t react, instead waiting for J-Hope’s response. J-Hope would never ever admit it to his friends, but the truth was, he didn’t think Suga was all that bad. Sure, he was from Gyeongsang-do, which already was a huge strike against him. And J-Hope thought Suga’s friends were all assholes. But Suga himself? Not as annoying as he would expected from someone like him. Not that he liked Suga or anything. J-Hope would still punch him in his pretty face any day. Wait, what?

“We pretty much argued the entire time”, J-Hope finally said, trying to distract himself from where his thoughts were heading. Besides, that wasn’t necessarily a lie. He did bicker with Suga part of the time.

“Damn, that sucks. Two hours with that asshole must’ve been hell, huh?” asked Seulgi. J-Hope shrugged noncommittally.

“He’s so full of himself”, Seulgi said, shaking her head.

“And his name is silly”, Jin added.

“Yeah! Who calls themselves Suga? What does that even mean?” Joy said in disgust.

“It’s a stupid rapper name”, J-Hope agreed, “mine is definitely better”.

“Wait, he’s a rapper?” Seulgi asked and the others looked at J-Hope in surprise.

“That’s what he said on Friday”.

Seulgi gasped and smacked the table in excitement. “Dude! I have the greatest idea!”

“What?”

“You should challenge him to a rap battle!”

“Seulgi noona, you’re a genius”, Namjoon said and she flushed.

“Coming from you, who has a higher IQ than all of us combined, that’s the best compliment ever”, she said, beaming.

“I agree with Seulgi”, said Jin, “And it would be a good way to see if he’s just talk or not”.

They all looked at J-Hope for his response. He smirked. “Any of you busy after school?” They all shook their heads. “Well now you are. After school, in the parking lot. I’m gonna challenge Suga to a rap battle”. They cheered and J-Hope grinned at his friends. “Let’s go ask him now”.


	3. Is that the guy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, at the Gyeongsang table...

Suga tried to focus on what his friends were talking about, instead of stealing glances at the Jeolla-do table. All throughout Biology, he couldn’t stop staring at J-Hope. The guy was infuriating. What really pissed him off, though, was how normal J-Hope seemed. For a second, in that detention period after school on Friday, Suga even dared to think that J-Hope was...cool. Then he mentally smacked himself upside the head for being such an idiot. There was no such thing as a cool person from Jeolla-do. Suga didn’t believe it. He couldn’t.

“Suga hyung, pay attention!” Jimin hit his arm.

“Sorry, Jiminie, what were you saying?” Suga shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“I was talking about how me and Irene noona got in trouble because of that new vice principal”.

“For what?”

Irene rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. “No offense, Suga oppa, but are you deaf? That’s what we’ve been talking about this whole time. Jimin and I were practicing our dance in the hallway before school, and Mr. Lee got mad at us for it”.

“Mr. Lee’s the new vice principal’s name”, added Jungkook, “in case you missed that part too”.

“Fuck off, Jungkook”.

“He yelled at us to stop. Then he lectured our class about how dancing breaks down our morals. He fucking called us out by name, Suga hyung! He told our entire class that we were immoral for dancing”, Jimin said indignantly.

“It was so embarrassing”. Irene covered her face with her hands at the memory. Jimin nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

“If it makes you feel better, Irene unnie”, Yeri said, “most kids are on your side. I heard people talking about it in some of my classes. They think Mr. Lee’s an ass”.

“Because he is”, Jungkook said. He put his arm around Irene and kissed her on the cheek. Irene blushed and smiled at him. “Anyone who talks shit about my girlfriend’s gonna get their ass kicked”.

“Jungkook oppa, we love you, but we all know you’re just talk”, Yeri teased. Jungkook pouted and they all laughed. Taehyung laughed and then abruptly broke off to wince, putting a hand to his side.

Everyone else’s laughter faded. The bruise on Taehyung’s cheek was still very obvious, and they assumed there were more bruises under his shirt. J-Hope and his stupid friends had been vicious. Suga suddenly felt a rush of anger. This is why it didn’t matter how cool J-Hope had acted in detention. He had done this to Taehyung. He had hurt his friend, his dongsaeng, and Suga could never forgive that.

“How are you feeling, Tae?” Suga asked.

Taehyung shrugged, looking down. “I feel like shit”, he said bluntly. “I never thanked you for fighting him off, by the way”.

“Yeah, we basically ditched you, and we’re really sorry about that”, Jimin said.

“It was no problem. I’d fight any day for any of you, you know that, right?” Suga said and they smiled at him.

“We know, Suga oppa”, Yeri said. “Although it’s not like you need an excuse to fight”.

Suga laughed. “I think I’ve outgrown that phase. Mostly”.

“How was detention?” Irene had a sympathetic look on her face.

Suga shrugged. “It was exactly as shitty as you’d expect detention to be”.

“What did your boss say about you missing work?” Yeri asked.

Suga grimaced. “Well, he didn’t fire me so that’s the best I could have hoped for. I had to work extra hours over the weekend to make up for it though”.

The others shook their heads in sympathy. “Damn, detention and extra work hours. That really sucks, I’m sorry Suga hyung”, Taehyung said sadly.

“And it must have been really annoying with that guy, huh?” Jimin said.

“What’s his name, again?” asked Jungkook.

“J-Hope”, Suga said.

Irene raised an eyebrow at his quick response and he shrugged.

“He’s honestly so obnoxious”, Yeri sighed.

“Definitely”, the others agreed. As they continued to insult J-Hope, and his friends as well, Suga found himself not really having anything to say. Huh. This was weird, Suga thought to himself. Normally he would never miss a chance to talk smack about Jeolla-do. But today he just didn’t feel like it.

“And he wears this ridiculous bandana!” Yeri was saying as the others laughed. “It’s got fucking spikes on it, for fuck’s sake!”

“Hey, I thought it was pretty badass”. The gang turned their heads to see J-Hope and his friend Seulgi standing there with their arms crossed. The laughter dissolved and Suga watched his friends’ smiles vanish and their faces harden.

Suga rose from his seat to stand in between his friends at the table and J-Hope and Seulgi. “I don’t know about you, man, but I really don’t want to serve another detention”, Suga said. “If you’re here to start another fight, then fuck off”.

J-Hope laughed. “Come on, how stupid do you think I am? I’m not here to fight”.

Suga raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“We heard you’re a rapper”, Seulgi said and Suga crossed his arms defensively.

“Yeah”.

“Hell yeah he is!” Jimin and Taehyung stood up from the table to stand on either side of Suga. They clapped him on the shoulder.

“He’s the best one there is”, Irene said proudly as she too rose to join Suga, Jungkook and Yeri behind her. She shot daggers at Seulgi who glared right back.

“That so? Well I bet J-Hope can give him a run for his money”, Seulgi said. Irene narrowed her eyes and Jungkook grabbed her elbow in warning.

“Anyways, we’re both rappers. And we both think we’re hot stuff. So why don’t we put it to the ultimate test, huh?” J-Hope asked, smirking at Suga.

Suga immediately understood what J-Hope was proposing. “You mean a rap battle”.

“You know it”, Seulgi said, slinging an arm around J-Hope.

“After school, in the parking lot. If you’re brave enough”, J-Hope challenged.

“Who’s gonna bring the beat?”

“My friend Namjoon. He produces stuff for me, ya know”.

“Good for him”, Taehyung said sarcastically.

Suga nudged him. “Tae, come on”. Taehyung huffed in irritation. Suga turned to J-Hope and held out his hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal”. J-Hope grabbed his hand and shook. The two locked eyes for a moment.

“See you after school”.


	4. Today I'll rap in Satoori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rap battle: Suga vs. J-Hope!!! But a new obstacle emerges...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated this in months, I'm so sorry! I'm back now and I'll try to update sooner than four months this time lol. Anyways I hope you enjoy. Leave a comment!

It never ceased to amaze Suga how quickly news spread around school. When he arrived at the parking lot after his last class, there was already a crowd of students waiting to see the rap battle.

“There he is!” Suga was greeted by cheers from his friends, and he grimaced as everyone’s eyes fell on him. He had only ever been in one other rap battle, at a club back home in Daegu. The attention was uncomfortable then and it was uncomfortable now. But, Suga thought as he sighed, it was all part of the job. He’d better get used to it.

Namjoon, the blond guy who had helped beat up Taehyung, stood next to J-Hope. He held a small bluetooth speaker. Suga remembered J-Hope saying he would be the one producing the beat.

“Nice of you to finally show up”, J-Hope said. Suga chose not to respond to that. He had to stay cool, couldn’t let this guy rile him up. He had to win.

“Who’s going first?” Suga asked instead.

“Suga got here last so I think he should go first”, a red haired girl standing next to Seulgi said loudly.

“Fine by me. I’ll kick your ass either way”, Suga said with as much bravado as he could and whistles and murmurs erupted from the crowd. J-Hope smirked.

“Everyone, we’re starting!” shouted Namjoon and the crowd quieted down, all eyes on Suga and J-Hope. “You both ready?” Namjoon asked.

Suga met J-Hope’s eyes and nodded. Namjoon pressed play.

(A/N: Think the beat from Cypher 1)

Suga took a deep breath, tapping his foot to get the rhythm.

“Go Suga! Go Suga! Go Suga! Go Suga!” Suga’s friends chanted, Jimin and Taehyung jumping up and down.

Feeling the rush of adrenaline, Suga locked eyes with J-Hope and began.

_Never been to the army but I’m a sharpshooting pro. I’m bulletproof, rapping with the flow. I’m dope, man, I’m the Chopin of the beat. You just talk smack ‘cause you’re jealous of me! I heat up, spitting fire like a boiler. And you’re typical just like a spoiler. My attitude is my mentor! I won’t ever change, I’m a born rapper!_

This was definitely not Suga’ best rapping, and he really hoped that no one was recording this. But the other students seemed to approve, judging by their cheers as he finished his verse.

“Suga hyung! I’m living for this!” Taehyung yelled. His friends continued to cheer him on.

J-Hope, however was unimpressed. Swaying side to side as he got into the groove, he smirked as he started his verse.

_Daegu boy, your rapping goes down hill. Now imma show you my blade like skill. My, my, my name is J-Hope. Rocking out and imma strike that pose. I’m the hip hop that Gwangju gave birth to! Rapping hot and spicy as Jeolla food. Goddamn, listen to me make Jeolla proud! I’m the hip hop sensation of the south!_

The crowd “oohed” at J-Hope proudly boasting about his Jeolla heritage. What stuck out to Suga was J-Hope’s line “I’m the hip hop that Gwangju gave birth to”, because if he remembered correctly Suga had used similar wording that day in detention. J-Hope had remembered what he said? That was unexpected.

Well. If J-Hope wanted to use the rivalry as subject material, Suga would happily oblige.

I’m a Daegu boy, yes I’m a D-boy! Not much to brag about, but I’m still proud of us. I’m gonna be the pride and joy of my city! Successful guy from Daegu, yeah just you watch me-

“What in the world is going on here?” an icy voice interrupted Suga’s rapping and the beat abruptly cut off. Suga turned to see a man stalk through the crowd of students to confront J-Hope and Suga. Suga gulped as he met the man’s cold gaze. The man couldn’t have been older than 30, but the frown wrinkles on his forehead and the stern look on his face aged him.

The man glared at Suga. “I asked you a question, young man”.

“Um, well, we were just, uh...we were rapping, you see”, Suga stammered nervously. The swagger and bravado that he had projected while rapping was gone. The badass rapper had been replaced by a frightened kid.

“Rapping”, the man repeated. The way he said it, like it was something distasteful, made Suga flinch. The man surveyed the others with an impassive stare. As soon as the man had appeared, the crowd of kids had quickly thinned, leaving just Suga’s friends, and J-Hope and his friends. The man’s presence had stolen all the playfulness from their attitudes, leaving meek and quiet students in their place.

“Ms. Bae, Mr. Park, I’m disappointed to see you again in such circumstances”, the man said. Irene and Jimin bowed their heads. “I would have thought after this morning, you would have learned your lesson”.

Suga realized then that this must be Mr. Lee, the vice principal. Immediately Suga felt a wave of hatred for the guy.

Mr. Lee tsked and shook his head. “This just won’t do. Rapping is one of the behaviors we won’t tolerate from students. It’s disgraceful”.

“We weren’t doing any harm”, J-Hope argued, moving to stand beside Suga. “We were just having fun”. Mr. Lee narrowed his eyes and J-Hope fell silent.

“I’ll let you off with a warning. This time”, he said. “Next time there will be more severe consequences for this kind of behavior. Now, you can either go home or head to the library. Perhaps studying would be a better use of your time”.

Mr. Lee stalked away, leaving the group in stunned silence. Suga had met people like him before. People who made you feel like complete shit, who took everything you cherished and spat on it. People who took your happiness and made you feel ashamed about it. He hated people like that. Irene was shaking, and Suga suspected she hid her face with her hair to hide tears. Jungkook gripped her hand, his jaw clenched. Yeri, Jimin, and Taehyung were sullen.

“That son of a bitch”, Suga finally hissed, the fear breaking and giving way to anger.

“I second that”, J-Hope said, walking back to his group. Namjoon, Seulgi, the girl with red hair, and the tall broad shouldered boy whose names Suga did not know all looked just as angry and upset as Suga and his friends. J-Hope turned back to Suga. “We’ll continue this later, yeah? Off of school property. So Mr. Stick-up-his-ass can’t yell at us”.

Suga snickered at J-Hope’s nickname for Mr. Lee. “Hell yeah”.

J-Hope watched Suga for a moment, something strange in his eyes that Suga couldn’t quite place. Then he nodded and gave a little wave. “See ya, Daegu boy”. Then J-Hope and his friends took off, leaving Suga and his friends alone in the parking lot.

***

The next day at school, the mood was still somber. To make matters worse, the entire school was ushered into the auditorium for an impromptu school assembly. Suga suspected what it would be about, and he was proven correct.

“Students, as most of you have heard, we have a new vice principal. I would like to formally introduce to you Mr. Lee Taemin”, Principal Kim announced. The students politely applauded as Mr. Lee strolled to the front.

“Thank you, Principal Kim. I am honored to be working with such hardworking students and faculty”, Mr. Lee began his speech. “Most of you are dedicated, hardworking, and morally upright students. I applaud your efforts to make something of yourselves. But, unfortunately, I have encountered some students who exhibit a lesser character. Who show themselves to care little for their studies, and prefer engaging in subversive activities. Like dancing and rapping”.

Murmurs broke out among the students, and Suga spotted J-Hope shaking his head and whispering to Seulgi from across the room. J-Hope turned his head and Suga’s eyes met his. J-Hope gave a small wave and Suga quickly looked away.

“Principal Kim and I have decided that it is the duty of school administrators to stamp out these disruptive behaviors. This is a place of learning, of academics. We are putting new policies in place to discourage such activities from detracting from the learning environment”.

The murmurs among the students grew louder, and soon angry chatter echoed throughout the auditorium. “This is bullshit!” J-Hope shouted out and several students roared in agreement. Suga didn’t join them, even though he thought J-Hope was spot on.

“Please, settle down!” Principal Kim attempted to quiet down the students. Mr. Lee remained silent, coldy observing the students. The students eventually settled down and Mr. Lee and Principal Kim continued with the assembly, but Suga didn’t hear any of it. He was too busy fuming and resisting the urge to storm out. This was complete and utter horseshit. No dancing? No rapping? No “disruptive” music? What the fuck? Since when was silencing students and suppressing their ability to express themselves conducive to a good learning environment? There had to be a balance between academics and leisure. But of course, Mr. Lee and Principal Kim couldn’t see any of this because they were idiotic adults who didn’t actually give a damn about the students.

 Suga was pissed and he wasn’t the only one. As the students filed out of the auditorium, he could hear others discussing the announcement with varying degrees of anger. As Suga was walking back to class, he was tapped on the shoulder and turned to see J-Hope walking beside him.

“Hey”, J-Hope said. Suga nodded at him, not really sure why J-Hope was approaching him. “This new policy sucks, doesn’t it?” Suga nodded again, more enthusiastically this time. “We should do something about it, shouldn’t we? J-Hope asked, looking Suga in the eye.

“Yeah”, Suga said after a beat. “We should”.


	5. 2 Cool 4 Skool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unholy alliance forms between the Gyeongsang-do and Jeolla-do kids. Suga and J-Hope are paired together for a science project.

Ever since the assembly, the strangest and most unexpected thing began to occur. The Gyeongsang-do kids and the Jeolla-do kids had stopped feuding.

Okay, maybe that was a bit of a stretch. Friendship was still way too foreign a concept for the two groups. But Suga had to admit the old hatred seemed to be cooling down. Think of it as an alliance against a common enemy. Yeah, that was acceptable to them.

Yeri and Joy, who Suga had learned was the girl with the red hair, had taken their prank war down a notch, pulling only harmless little jokes on each other. Seulgi now said hello to Irene and Jimin in the halls. J-Hope acknowledged Suga in their shared biology class. Bit by bit, the Jeolla-do and Gyeongsang-do groups were warming up to each other. Kind of.

“This is weird”, Jungkook finally said at lunch one day. “It’s an unholy alliance, I tell you. We’ve hated them since forever, why should that change now?”

“Jungkook, baby, I don’t like them either but honestly I hate Mr. Lee more than I hate them”, Irene said.

“Yeah, at least none of the Jeolla kids ever publicly humiliated us”, Jimin said.

“But Mr. Lee never beat me up at lunch, did he?” Taehyung challenged. While Suga had been slowly acting more civil with J-Hope, and Jimin was neutral about it, Taehyung still refused to acknowledge him.

Suga didn’t want an argument to break out, so he merely said, “Mr. Lee’s bullshit policies hurt all of us, even the Jeolla kids. You don’t have to be friends with them, but we all agree Mr. Lee’s an asshole”.

Taehyung shrugged, placated. “I still don’t like them”, he muttered.

“Me neither”, Jungkook said.

“None of us do”, Jimin said, and the others nodded. Suga nodded too, but he wondered if he actually believed that.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, and soon the final bell was ringing. Most kids after school went to study sessions after school with private tutors, or went to the school library with their friends to study. Most kids steadfastly dedicated themselves to their schoolwork. Suga wasn’t most kids. Unlike most of the rich brats he went to school with, Suga had to work to support his family. So every day after school, he worked as a waiter and busboy at a local restaurant.

His boss, Mr. Moon, was a stern man of about 50 years. He was tough on his employees, and had zero tolerance for drinking or smoking or anything of the sort on the job. Suga may be something of a delinquent at school, but he was a model employee.

“Yoongi! Get your ass to table 9. We need a server there, pronto!” This is how Mr. Moon greeted him when he walked into the restaurant’s kitchen.

“On it, boss!” Suga pulled on his work shirt over his t-shirt and hastily tied on his apron. He grabbed his notebook and pen, and headed out to take the orders.

Suga was used to the dinner rush that rolled in starting around 5 pm, but today the restaurant was unusually bustling. He hurried between the kitchen and the tables, taking orders and delivering meals to the customers. When the chaos finally died down, Suga slipped outside for a breather and to check his phone. He ran into his coworker Heechul, who was taking a smoke break.

“Hey Heechul hyung, how’s it going?”

“Eh. It’s going. That’s all I can ask for”. Heechul offered Suga a cigarette. “Want one?”

Suga shook his head. He didn’t smoke.

Heechul shrugged and the two stood in silence, with Heechul smoking and staring off into space while Suga pulled out his phone to check his messages.

Suga’s shift ended several hours later. On his way out, Mr. Moon called his name. “Yoongi!” Mr. Moon gestured to him.

“Yes, boss?” Suga asked.

Mr. Moon gave him a thumbs up. “Good work today, kid”. 

Mr. Moon didn’t give compliments often. So Suga walked home beaming, the sky overhead dark and the stars twinkling.

***

Suga was exhausted the next day at school, and to make matters worse he hadn’t done any of his homework. Of course, his teachers had long ceased to expect anything from him so it wasn’t surprising to them. But it still sucked to know that he was a disappointment to every adult in his life, except maybe Mr. Moon and even that was a stretch.

But, Suga tried not to dwell on it too much. His attitude was to not give a shit. He didn’t give a fuck, and even if he did he wanted the world to think that he didn’t.

When Suga walked into Biology, he immediately noticed the words “Group project” written in big letters on the chalkboard.

“Suga hyung! Did you see that we have a group project?” Taehyung asked him as he took his seat.

“It’s taking up half the board, how could I miss it?” Suga said dryly, turning to face Taehyung and Jimin.

“I hope we get to work together”, Jimin said cheerfully. “That would be fun”. Suga nodded.

“Good afternoon, class”, Ms. Yoon said loudly, signaling the start of class. The students quieted down. Suga turned back to face the front. “As you can see, today I will be assigning a group project focusing on summarizing a part of the curriculum for this unit. Now, before you get any ideas, you should know that I will be the one assigning partners. Instead of sticking to your friends, I want you to get to know your other classmates”.

The students collectively groaned, and Suga lost any hope that this project would be fun. He knew for a fact Ms. Yoon wouldn’t assign him to be with Taehyung or Jimin, as she knew they were friends. Ms. Yoon began listing names of pairs, and Suga sighed as a wave of exhaustion hit him. He put his head down on his desk, dozing off.

“Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok”. Suga jerked his head up, all sleepiness gone. What?!

“Dude”, Taehyung breathed, and Suga turned to face them sharply.

“Did I hear that correctly? I’m working with J-Hope?!” he hissed to them and the two grimaced and nodded.

“Who are you two working with?”

Jimin and Taehyung glanced at each other. “Each other”, Taehyung finally said.

“Sorry, Suga hyung”, Jimin said with pity. Suga resisted the urge to beat his head against his desk. Great. This was just fucking fantastic. Not only were two of his best friends assigned to work with each other, and he wasn’t, he was assigned to work with his rival. Wasn’t that the icing on top of the shit cake.

“Howdy partner!” J-Hope said, plopping himself down on top of Suga’s desk. Suga almost snapped at him, but J-Hope was grinning ear to ear and Suga wasn’t that much of an asshole to take his happiness away.

Instead he sighed, resigning himself to his fate. “Hi J-Hope”.

“So our topic is DNA”, J-Hope said, “which is actually an interesting subject. I was thinking we could do a 3D model of the double helix for the visual part of the presentation, and then we could-”

Taehyung and Jimin snickered and J-Hope abruptly stopped talking. “What are you laughing at?” J-Hope’s tone shifted from cheerful to irritated.

“Your Satoori is showing”, Jimin said.

“‘Our topic is DNA’”, Taehyung mimicked J-Hope’s Jeolla accent as Jimin giggled. J-Hope went bright red. Suga stiffened. Dammit, guys! He didn’t like J-Hope either, but he didn’t want another fight.

“Tae, can you knock it off?” Suga said.

“Why do you care?” Taehyung scoffed.

“Because he’s my fucking partner, and I have to work with him and I don’t want him to be pissed at me!” Suga snapped, losing his temper. “So please shut the fuck up before you make things worse for me”.

Taehyung’s eyes widened with hurt. “Wow, fuck you”, he said in disbelief. He and Jimin moved away to another desk, acting like scolded puppies.

“Thanks for that”, J-Hope said quietly. Suga didn’t respond.

***

“Tae, I’m sorry”, Suga said for what felt like the millionth time as the three walked to lunch. Taehyung ignored him, still sulking.

Suga glanced at Jimin. Help me, he mouthed. Jimin shrugged.

“I shouldn’t have snapped at you”, Suga tried again. Taehyung still didn’t respond.

“I guess I was just pissed that you and Jimin get to work together and I’m stuck with him. Since he’s such an asshole”, Suga added.

This seemed to work. “I guess I was just making it worse for you, huh?” Taehyung finally said, “I’m sorry too”. Suga made eye contact with Jimin, and both sighed in relief as they reached their table. Yeri was already there, munching on her food, but Jungkook and Irene weren’t.

With one crisis averted, Suga wanted to tear his hair out when another one arose.

Jungkook and Irene were bickering when they arrived at the table and they continued to bicker throughout lunch.

“I’m sick of it, Jungkook, fucking sick of it!” Irene was raging. “It’s bad enough that you flirt with other girls, but doing it right in front of me? That’s so insulting!”

“I wasn’t flirting with her!” Jungkook protested.

“Well that would be a first! We all know you’re a playboy!”

“Irene, baby-”

“Don’t ‘baby’ me, I’m your noona!”

“Why are you being so possessive? I’m allowed to talk to other girls, aren’t I?!”

Suga closed his eyes and tried to block out the argument. There was no way he was getting involved this time. He was way too tired.

“Maybe you’re both wrong?” Yeri suggested timidly.

“Shut up!” they both said and Yeri sighed.

“Jungkook, just apologize to your girlfriend. If you’re flirting with other girls in front of her, she has every right to be pissed”, Taehyung said.

“No offense, Taehyung, but you don’t know shit so stay out of it”, snapped Jungkook.

“Yah! Show some respect to your hyung!” Irene scolded.

“You’re defending him?!”

Suga, who still hadn’t opened his eyes, felt a migraine coming on.

“Guys, please”, Jimin tried to mediate. “Jungkook shouldn’t mess with other girls, but Irene noona shouldn’t be possessive either. Both of you should trust each other”.

“Jimin oppa’s right”, Yeri said.

“I’m not being possessive!” “I’m not messing around on her!”

The conversation descended into chaos as they continued to shout over each other. Suga opened his eyes. This was the final straw. He grabbed his bag and rose from the table.

The others immediately quieted down. “Suga oppa, where are you going?” asked Yeri.

“To get some fucking sleep! I worked overtime last night, guys, I’m fucking about to die from sleep deprivation, and your bickering isn’t helping!” And with that, Suga stormed off to look for somewhere to take a nap.


End file.
